Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Sabres made two additions to their blue line over the summer in free agency with the signing Connor Clifton and Erik Johnson.
Johnson is a 17-year veteran of the NHL, and is also a Stanley Cup champion with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022. He says he’s already taken to the Sabres' young defensive core like Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power and Mattias Samuelsson.
"It’s been great. I really like those guys," said Johnson following Friday's practice. "They’ve been super eager to ask questions about some of my experiences, and I’ve seen a lot in my time in Denver and St. Louis [Blues]. I’ve played in the Stanley Cup Final and the Olympics, so it’s information that I want to share. I’ve tried to be an open book for those guys."
Johnson says this team is knocking on the door, which has made them a destination for players. That certainly wasn’t the case just a few short years ago. The 35-year-old believes this Sabres team is set up for many, many years, because of the talent up and down the lineup.
While Johnson is officially signed on for one year in Buffalo, he's already made it clear he’d be open to sticking around for longer than that.
Dahlin already can’t say enough about Johnson.
"'E.J.' and 'Cliff' [Clifton] are two unbelievable defensemen, and they’re very skilled. Not too many people talk about that, and they can play fast," said Dahlin on Thursday.
"[Johnson and I have] been talking a lot, and he loves to be at the rink. The one thing I realized is he’s so professional. He’s been teaching me a lot about recovery. He made me buy a sauna, so I think I can learn some stuff from him."
How could Johnson make Dahlin buy a sauna?
"He said it was good for recovery, so I was like, 'Yeah, sure, I’ll do it.' It’s whatever he says," the All-Star defenseman said.
Johnson says a big part of this game is making sure you’re ready to go. He says he’s always tried to find things to help him recover, and the sauna is an idea he got from Hall-of-Famer Paul Kariya when they played together with the Blues.
"We had a big sauna club in Denver, where we’d sauna before games and after practices. Now I have a sauna here in Buffalo, so it was the first thing I did when I moved here was to find a company to build my sauna," Johnson admitted.
I was interested to hear what the veteran’s first impressions were of the group overall in Buffalo.
"I could tell right away the group is very dialed in, and it’s a hungry group," Johnson said. "The guys are super detailed, and I was surprised at the buy-in they have with such a young team. Every day these guys want to get better, and they do the things to do that."
Johnson played 15 years for the Colorado Avalanche, so he admits it was weird trying to get used to a new city. He's been in town, though, over the last few weeks trying to get acclimated to his new surroundings.
"As an away team, you might come to town and it’s cold and it’s snowy. You might not see the beautiful parts of the city. Coming here, it really reminded me of going up North to the lake in Minnesota," Johnson said. "This has a great pace of life, and the people have been awesome. I came here, looked around, and really just liked it."
The Sabres have their Blue and Gold scrimmage on Saturday at the arena downtown. Doors open at 11 a.m. ET for fans with the scrimmage starting at 12 p.m. ET.
